DONE with trying to buy an iPhone 5 in NYC.

I'm so upset. Last night at around 10:15 I waited on hold for 20 minutes with the fifth ave apple store, and finally an associate answered. The guy was nice and told me that they definitely had a limited supply of iPhone 5's for walk in purchase, and explained that I should come in tomorrow (today) morning and wait in line.

He said they start "recognizing" the line at 6am and give out tickets so people waiting know they will walk out with their device, before they actually sell them at 8am. He told me all of this very factually and so today I arrived at the store this morning at 5:45am. There was no line at all, the store was mostly deserted. The associates in store told me they didn't get a shipment and never know when they will, blah blah usual cryptic things they always say, sounding brainwashed and sedated.

I contacted every other store in the city, same story. No one has it. Though the lack of stock is just a fact of life right now, it's still annoying. What really bugged me though, is how the person on the phone lied to me last night and I got out of bed super early for no reason .

Btw going to the store in person is my only option right now because I need to buy device only (cant reserve or order online) and I want to purchase from apple, not a random dude on eBay at a premium. At this rate I might as well wait until next month and just avoid the hassle.

I'm so upset. Last night at around 10:15 I waited on hold for 20 minutes with the fifth ave apple store, and finally an associate answered. The guy was nice and told me that they definitely had a limited supply of iPhone 5's for walk in purchase, and explained that I should come in tomorrow (today) morning and wait in line.

He said they start "recognizing" the line at 6am and give out tickets so people waiting know they will walk out with their device, before they actually sell them at 8am. He told me all of this very factually and so today I arrived at the store this morning at 5:45am. There was no line at all, the store was mostly deserted. The associates in store told me they didn't get a shipment and never know when they will, blah blah usual cryptic things they always say, sounding brainwashed and sedated.

I contacted every other store in the city, same story. No one has it. Though the lack of stock is just a fact of life right now, it's still annoying. What really bugged me though, is how the person on the phone lied to me last night and I got out of bed super early for no reason .

Btw going to the store in person is my only option right now because I need to buy device only (cant reserve or order online) and I want to purchase from apple, not a random dude on eBay at a premium. At this rate I might as well wait until next month and just avoid the hassle.

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You know that every night at 10pm you can purchase one for in-store pickup the following day, right?

I was able to get one for my dad by ordering at 10pm last Thursday. Picked up Friday from Grand Central around 7:30am, took five minutes. Got it even before my preorders. Super easy if you have 10 minutes to spare at night.

OP, Is there any compelling reason you need to get this phone right now? If you wait just a week or two you may have better luck -- and won't have to get up to stand in line at 5:45 a.m.

Believe me, Apple will eventually make enough iPhones to fulfill demand. Those Chinese factories are cranking them out by the millions.

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I can survive a couple more weeks I guess, but I'm dealing with a Samsung Galaxy S(h!t) v2 that fails to send texts left and right and is causing other headaches, plus I'm just excited about new technology and it's frustrating that I have to hop through hoops to tell a company "take my money!" And they're like "no."

Are you on att and not eligible for upgrade at all? You can still do the 10pm order thing. It will make you pay the retail price of the phone. It will also be unlocked. That is the only "device only" option right now I believe.

Are you on att and not eligible for upgrade at all? You can still do the 10pm order thing. It will make you pay the retail price of the phone. It will also be unlocked. That is the only "device only" option right now I believe.

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Is it possible to order the AT&T version on the Apple website without entering any AT&T account info and then come on the following day and pay full price for the device ("device only")?

Are you on att and not eligible for upgrade at all? You can still do the 10pm order thing. It will make you pay the retail price of the phone. It will also be unlocked. That is the only "device only" option right now I believe.

Members here have reserved them at the discounted prices and when they come in the following day, they can erase the upgrade and sell at full price.

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The thing is, I'm not an AT&T account holder at all. I'm with T-Mobile US. It seems really complex to create a whole new at&t account and then cancel at the last minute to purchase the phone device only, I'm scared I would be screwed with the charges.

The thing is, I'm not an AT&T account holder at all. I'm with T-Mobile US. It seems really complex to create a whole new at&t account and then cancel at the last minute to purchase the phone device only, I'm scared I would be screwed with the charges.

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I don't think that'll work. It works if you're an existing customer with one of the supported carriers.

I can survive a couple more weeks I guess, but I'm dealing with a Samsung Galaxy S(h!t) v2 that fails to send texts left and right and is causing other headaches, plus I'm just excited about new technology and it's frustrating that I have to hop through hoops to tell a company "take my money!" And they're like "no."

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That's the issue with tight supplies. I'm sure Tim Cook would love to have millions more phones available to meet demand, but given the significant changes in this year's design and the reported delays with displays, it just isn't possible. i got lucky and arrived at Grand Central on Day 2 (before they started the online system) just as a shipment arrived. However, I can tell you it is worth the wait. Just hang in there a few more weeks and supply should catch up to demand. A similar thing happened last year, although last year at least it was possible to reserve a phone and buy it device-only.

The thing is, I'm not an AT&T account holder at all. I'm with T-Mobile US. It seems really complex to create a whole new at&t account and then cancel at the last minute to purchase the phone device only, I'm scared I would be screwed with the charges.

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You could open up a Verizon account. The phone is unlocked and will work on 3G once T-Mobile is done refarming their network. You can then cancel your account on Day 31 and pay the ETF if you want.

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